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Friday, September 14, 2012

The Power of Coelho Compels You

Lady: "No. I started reading it. And it's not that I don't like it. It's just that it's WOO HOO WOW."

Me: "Oh...kay..."

Lady: "It's a very strong book. I don't regret reading it."

Me: "What's the book?"

She pulls out of her bag a beaten-up copy of Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho.

Lady: "You are a young girl. You are not an old fogey. Therefore I am not intimidated to tell you what the book is about."

She leans over and whispers, "It's...all...pornography."

Me: "Oh...my."

Lady: "Do you know why men visit prostitutes?"

Me: "I don't...I'm not really..."

Lady: "It's not about sex. You'd be surprised."

Me: "Right. Okay. Yes."

Lady: "This book will tell you. It's very interesting. Of course, I would not tell my friends about it. But I can tell you."

Me: "Thank you."

She then asked me to look up other books by Coelho in our catalog, rejecting the ones that didn't sound salacious enough. I should have just put a hold on Fifty Shades of Grey for her and called it a day.

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About Me

I am a public librarian. I have a Master's Degree in Library Science and another Master's degree in Secondary English Education. I experience strange and wonderful things in my line of work. I like to share them. I (and/or my writing) have appeared in various places, including American Libraries Magazine, Huffington Post, The Village Voice, The Atlantic Wire, the NY Daily News, Book Riot, School Library Journal, The Hairpin, and more. This blog won the 2012 Salem Press Library Blog Award in the "Quirky" category. Find me on Twitter: @ScrewyDecimal!